{"id":28165,"date":"2026-06-18T10:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/?p=28165"},"modified":"2026-06-17T18:55:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:55:47","slug":"a-colon-cancer-study-tested-how-effective-colonoscopy-really-is-flagging-up-important-results-about-timing-and-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/health\/a-colon-cancer-study-tested-how-effective-colonoscopy-really-is-flagging-up-important-results-about-timing-and-prevention-28165\/","title":{"rendered":"A colon cancer study tested how effective colonoscopy really is, flagging up important results about timing and prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A major European trial has pushed colonoscopy back into the medical spotlight. After 13 years, the NordICC study found that one invitation to colonoscopy<\/a> reduced new colorectal cancer diagnoses, but did not show a statistically strong drop in deaths from the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That does not mean screening failed. It means the numbers are more complicated than many patients, doctors, and health systems expected, especially when the test is offered to thousands of people and many never book the appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the trial found<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The NordICC trial followed 84,583 men and women in Norway, Poland, and Sweden. Participants were split between people invited to get a colonoscopy and people who continued with usual care, giving researchers a rare real-world look at how screening performs outside a perfect laboratory setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colorectal cancer<\/a> starts in the colon or rectum, often after small growths called polyps slowly change over time. A colonoscopy lets doctors look inside the full colon<\/a> with a flexible camera, remove many polyps, and catch some cancers before symptoms appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

Read More: Sigmund Freud, neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis: \u201cThe favorite child keeps for life the feeling of a conqueror\u201d<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

After 13 years, colorectal cancer<\/a> was found in 1.46 percent of people in the invited group and 1.80 percent of those not invited. Put more simply, the test prevented about eight cases of colorectal cancer for every 1,000 people over that period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why deaths barely changed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The more surprising result involved deaths. The risk of dying from colorectal cancer was 0.41 percent in the screening group and 0.47 percent in the group without screening, a small difference that did not firmly prove a mortality benefit in the overall analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why would a test prevent cancers but not clearly save more lives? Part of the answer may be better cancer care, including earlier diagnosis after symptoms, improved surgery, stronger drug treatment<\/a>, and immunotherapy for some patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aasma Shaukat<\/a> of NYU Grossman School of Medicine described the result as a reason to “reevaluate what colonoscopy can and cannot achieve at a population level.” In practical terms, the test still matters, but its public health payoff depends on more than the test itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually turning up to the screening\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here is the catch. Only about 42 percent of people invited to get a colonoscopy actually went through with it, which weakened the effect seen across the full invited group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That detail is easy to overlook, but it is central. A test cannot prevent cancer from a calendar reminder alone, and anyone who has heard about the prep drink or taken a day off work knows why participation can be hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

Read More: Psychology says people with more money really may be happier, but not for the reason most people think<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

When researchers looked at people who actually completed the procedure, the benefit appeared much stronger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michal F. Kaminski of the Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology estimated that if everyone invited had gone through screening, the relative reduction in cancer incidence would have been 45 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier results raised the same question<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The NordICC team had already reported 10-year results in The New England Journal of Medicine<\/a>. At that point, the invited group had a lower risk of colorectal cancer than the usual-care group, but the reduction in colorectal cancer deaths was also modest in the full invitation-based analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That earlier report triggered a debate because colonoscopy had long been promoted as one of the strongest tools in cancer prevention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observational studies and computer models had suggested larger benefits, but randomized trials can be less tidy because they capture missed appointments, uneven access, and real human behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons<\/a> urged caution in how the findings are read. It said the most important result was that colonoscopy reduced the risk of colorectal cancer and should still play an important role in cancer prevention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What patients should know<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For patients, the practical advice has not flipped overnight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <\/a>says most adults should start colorectal cancer screening soon after turning 45, and a colonoscopy is still needed after an abnormal result from several other screening tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Cancer Society<\/a> also recommends screening for average-risk adults starting at 45 and lists several options, including stool-based tests and colonoscopy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its updated guidance says blood-based tests are not preferred and should mainly be used when people decline or do not complete better established options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

Read More: Elsa Pataky says she lifts heavy and switched away from yoga as she got older, and the twist is her reason, she thinks certain stress starts to land on the joints differently with age<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

So what should patients take from this? The best screening plan is the one a person can realistically complete, with medical guidance based on age, family history, symptoms, and personal risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bigger public health question<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For health officials, the trial asks a different question. How much money, staffing, and follow-up should go into colonoscopy programs compared with other efforts, such as reducing obesity<\/a>, cutting tobacco use, improving treatment pathways, or helping more people complete simpler screening tests?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is not a small issue. A colonoscopy can prevent the stress, treatment, and long shadow of a cancer diagnosis, but health systems must also think about cost, access, quality, and whether the people most at risk are actually reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day, the NordICC results do not write off colonoscopy. They widen the scope of the strategies, adding participation, treatment advances, and smarter use of resources to the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main study has been published in <\/a>The Lancet<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A major European trial has pushed colonoscopy back into the medical spotlight. After 13 years, the NordICC study found that … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":28167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28166,"href":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28165\/revisions\/28166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}